For Mumbai Mayors, political battles have traditionally been fought across the aisle – the Opposition attacks, the Mayor defends.
Her latest confrontation has taken her beyond the civic House itself, with Tawde meeting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis this week to seek changes in the Corporation’s administration.
For a Mayor whose formal powers are largely centred on presiding over the civic House and representing the city, the frequency and range of these run ins have made Tawde an unusually visible figure in the BMC’s new political dispensation.
A political career before the Mayor’s chair
Tawde’s political journey predates her elevation to the city’s top civic post. A former Congress member, she joined the BJP in 2012 and built a political base in Ghatkopar.
A multiple term corporator, she was also associated with the BMC’s Education Committee and emerged within the party as a vocal and combative civic politician.
Her appointment as Mayor earlier this year marked a political shift in Mumbai. The BJP returned to the Mayor’s chair after more than four decades, ending the Shiv Sena’s long hold over the post.
Tawde, therefore, entered office not merely as a new Mayor, but as the face of a change in the city’s civic power structure.
She also made clear that she did not intend to remain confined to the ceremonial dimensions of the office.
Tawde positioned herself as a hands on Mayor, promising to take up issues ranging from civic infrastructure and basic amenities to unauthorised hawkers and illegal immigration.
It was a style that would soon make her a regular presence in the city’s political controversies.
The controversies begin
One of the first controversies to follow Tawde came almost immediately after she took office.
Social media posts claimed that the Mayor was wearing a luxury Rolex watch worth more than Rs 1 crore. Tawde rejected the claim, saying the watch was a Michael Kors model gifted by her children.
In March, attention shifted from what she was wearing to the vehicle in which she travelled.
Red and blue flasher lights installed on the Mayor’s official vehicle and an escort vehicle triggered criticism after photographs circulated. The BMC subsequently removed the lights, which were not permitted under rules restricting the use of such beacons on government vehicles.
In April, Tawde was again forced to explain herself after remarks at a Mahavir Jayanti event in Borivali, where she spoke about recovering from a chronic throat ailment following prayers and blessings from a Jain religious leader. Her comments drew criticism over alleged promotion of superstition. Tawde later said her remarks had been misunderstood.
There were also controversies that did not arise from any action by Tawde herself. Last week, police registered an FIR over defamatory YouTube videos that falsely portrayed a photography teacher as the Mayor’s husband.
The bungalow row
The first major controversy involving civic spending associated with the Mayor’s office came in August.
The BMC proposed works worth around Rs 2.9 crore for upgradation and infrastructure in the area surrounding the Mayor’s official heritage residence at Byculla zoo.
The proposal attracted political criticism, particularly because it came only months after another Rs 2.4 crore had been spent on renovation of the Mayor’s residence.
Tawde publicly distanced herself from the proposal. She said she had neither sought the work nor asked the civic administration to undertake it and maintained that the tender did not concern renovation of the bungalow itself.
She subsequently asked the BMC to withdraw the tender, which was cancelled, stating that proposals were being associated with her name without her knowledge.
Mayor versus the bureaucracy
The trigger that firmly set Tawde against the administration was a proposal worth Rs 25.12 lakh concerning social media services for the Mayor’s office. The proposal placed before the Standing Committee sought continuation of social media handling services for a year and noted that no tender process had been undertaken, prompting criticism from the Opposition.
Tawde first said that she was unaware of the tender and responded by writing to BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, asking that proposals carrying her name be routed through her office and questioning the functioning of the civic public relations department. Supporters of Tawde claimed that her name was deliberately invoked by some officials of the BMC and the tender associated with her to drag her into a controversy.
The issue then moved beyond the BMC.
Tawde met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis this week and reportedly sought the removal of the BMC’s Chief Public Relations Officer. Additionally, Tawde has also appealed to the administration to deploy an Assistant Municipal Commissioner to oversee the operations of the department rather than the PRO alone.
The episode was significant because Tawde was no longer merely responding to an Opposition attack. She was seeking an administrative change in the civic machinery over a matter involving her office.
Under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, the Mayor presides over the Corporation and performs statutory functions, but executive authority for implementing the law rests with the Municipal Commissioner.
The distinction has traditionally meant that Mayors operate primarily as the political and ceremonial face of the civic body, while the bureaucracy handles its executive machinery. Tawde’s style has been markedly more hands on. That has created room for friction over where the Mayor’s political authority ends and the Commissioner’s administrative authority begins.
Fight within her own camp
More revealing, perhaps, have been the signs of friction within the ruling side.
Last week, Tawde met Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam along with senior BJP leaders, including civic House leader Ganesh Khankar and committee chairpersons. The meeting came amid growing complaints and controversy surrounding the Mayor’s office.
According to sources, the meeting saw a heated exchange between Tawde and BJP Education Committee chairperson Rajashree Shirwadkar over alleged interference by the Mayor’s office in the functioning of the committee.
The episode was significant because the disagreement was not with the Opposition, but with a BJP colleague heading one of the Corporation’s key committees. Reports in Marathi media have also described tensions between Tawde and Shirwadkar and Satam’s intervention as the party leadership sought to contain the issue.
BJP leaders, however, have played down the episode, insisting that the party remains united and that differences between individual leaders should not be interpreted as an internal crisis.
But the Shirwadkar episode is not the only indication that Tawde’s relationship with colleagues has not always been smooth.
During a pre monsoon inspection, Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi of the Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena publicly said he had not been informed about Tawde’s inspection of drains.
Why Tawde has become so visible
A senior BJP leader attributed the intensity of the scrutiny to the changed political and media environment.
“Previously, social media was not as entrenched as before. Now, the BMC has come back to power after four years and social media is very active. Every single move is critically evaluated. Sometimes, even non existent issues are overanalysed and the Mayor’s name is dragged through the mud,” the leader said.
There is another explanation: Tawde herself has chosen to occupy more political space than the office traditionally demands.
Her supporters see this as an attempt to make the Mayor relevant after years in which the office was largely viewed as ceremonial. Her critics see it as an attempt to exercise influence over areas that fall within the administrative domain.
Tawde rejects both the criticism and the suggestion that she has overstepped.
She has argued that the Opposition is targeting her because the Shiv Sena has lost the Mayor’s post after decades.
“For almost three decades, the Shiv Sena had their Mayor on the chair. For the first time in years, they are sitting on the left side of the House as the Opposition. Since they have lost their Mayor seat, they are simply targeting me with bias just because I am the Mayor,” she told The Indian Express.
But Tawde also believes that some of the problems originate within the BMC administration itself.
“There are people within the administration who still seem to be aligned with the UBT Shiv Sena. They are attempting to damage the work of the Mayor, who serves the city, by unnecessarily associating my name with proposals,” she said.
Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde. (Illustration: Suvajit Dey) 
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